Jennifer Lawrence has been nominated for Actor in A Leading Role – Female at the 88th Academy Awards for her performance in David O. Russell’s Joy. This is Lawrence’s second nomination- she won the first for Silver Linings Playbook (2012) and fans of Lawrence ‘Katniss Hunger Games’ hope that she would bag her second. Competition is stiff this year.
At 124 minutes the mop biopic tells the story of Joy Mangano a self-made billionaire at a time when selling on television was the latest fad in USA. It speaks of the struggles of a divorced mother of two working for Eastern Airlines who has more to bargain with than she can afford to.
The tale frequently reminds the audience that “in America, the ordinary meets the extraordinary everyday”. Having to continuously juggle herself among the demands of her mother Terri (Virginia Madsen), Tony (Edgar Ramirez) her ex-husband, her two kids, her recently ‘dumped-back-with-no-return-policy’ father Rudy (Robert De Niro) and the mounting bills, she is torn emotionally and is having to constantly juggle herself to the best of her ability and circumstances.
Sometimes it seems that life merely passed by and Joy was left behind; the metaphor borrowed from the evergreen tale of the lame boy that could not keep up to the music of Hamelin’s Piper, whilst he disappeared with the rest.
The narrative is unfolded through the eyes of Mimi (Diane Ladd), Joy’s grandmother the only one who Joy looks up to and finds strength, comfort and solace in. Mimi believes that one day Joy will find her space under the sun and urges her to never give up.
It’s not only a mop that Joy sets out to sell- for her it’s a lifetime discovery she has invented which she hopes will revolutionise the domestic front for millions of women across the nation. For the mop is self-wringing, can be tossed into the washing machine, washed and re-used and comes light and fragile.
But the million dollar question is who will buy it? From approaching small shop owners to malls, Joy does it all with assistance from her pal Jackie (Dascha Polanco) and in one of these marketing strategies gets a quick audience with Neil (Bradley Cooper), an Executive with QVC, the Tv network of the day.
Yet it’s not success in the first go – the model advertising the mop goofs up and Joy finds her world just collapsing, but gets another chance- she will be model for her own product- a rick which Neil takes and it does pay off.
From tackling the scrupulous Texas businessman to throwing out excess baggage from her personal life and home, Joy emerges into the much-anticipated but not surprised at butterfly, much like her mop!
Lawrence does put in a powerful performance, not over dramatic, measured and subtle, much required for the role; yet she falls spaces behind other powerful nominees: Alicia Vikander (The Danish Girl) and Saoirse Ronan (Brooklyn).
Joy is a true story of woman-empowerment but perhaps a little too old fashioned for a 21st century audience.
Rating: 3.5/5